


california dreaming, new york on my mind

by memehereagain



Series: Tumblr prompts [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: College, F/M, Frank Zhang is in this and I love him and he is Percy's HOO pal, Implied Sexual Content, Talking About The Future, not jason grace, soft percabeth, wonder bread eatin ass plain ass hoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:02:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27340915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memehereagain/pseuds/memehereagain
Summary: Well, this was another tumblr prompt.Percy's got a camera. Annabeth's got the lens aimed at her whether she likes it or not. And since college is almost over, they discuss the future. Very soft fic. The softest I've ever softed.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: Tumblr prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011021
Comments: 43
Kudos: 236





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt: Do you want me to stop?  
> 

On Percy’s nineteenth birthday, Rachel Elizabeth Dare bought him a camera. Like, a really nice camera. It was the last thing he or anyone else expected, but, somehow, it was the perfect gift. Perfect because Percy was the kind of guy that treasured the moments, or at least he had become that guy by the end of the Second Giant War. Some of that had to do with the absence of photos from when he was younger. And despite many of his memories from that time bearing a shroud of loneliness and confusion and fear, the scattered few Sally-Jackson-engineered bright spots interspersed throughout were more than worth memorializing. It mostly had to do with the trauma of having his memories snatched from him by a temperamental goddess. In the end, he had become a little obsessed with converting those moments that feel important and infinite, into something tangible: a collection of notes-to-self haphazardly tacked to his wall that said things like _April 3rd, Estelle’s first word (no)_ , mementos like foam fingers and pens and a jar of sand from a particularly special trip he and Annabeth took to Montauk. 

So the camera also might have been Rachel’s attempt to intervene in the early stages of a hoarding problem but also _art appreciation_.

Annabeth had a grudging appreciation for his photography habit. She had even dabbled herself, if you call borrowing his camera for a tastefully nude impromptu mirror shoot dabbling. And Percy had certainly appreciated her effort to appreciate his hobby after the initial shock of stumbling across the sultry photos while uploading images from his sister’s second birthday party wore off. He would have appreciated it even more if he hadn’t been on a school computer.

* * *

When it came near time for them to graduate, Remy, Annabeth’s long time roommate asked Percy to photograph her and her small group of friends. It wasn't something he had done before, because, up until that point, Percy pointed his camera at the things and people he loved, or the things and people closely related to them. It was Annabeth, of course, who convinced him. She wasn't extremely close with the other two girls that would be present, but he obviously loved her and he liked Remy enough when he was in the mood to admit it, so it took about two ‘ _Please, just do it for me?’_ s for him to cave. After all, Remy had been more than gracious over the years about welcoming (and sometimes just tolerating) Percy in their shared space, so he kind of owed her. For Annabeth, it seemed like something so deliciously human, gathering with a group of girls in matching outfits to commemorate your final moments in college, and Percy could see that she wanted this, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

They wound up driving out to a stretch of hills painted in vibrant hues of purple, orange, and yellow, catching the springtime phenomenon that is a California super bloom. ***** One gets deep enough into the fields of wildflowers and it’s like being transported into another world of brightness and _colors;_ and even Annabeth had to fight the urge to twirl around, arms out and soul liberated, singing about the hills being alive with the sound of music.

Maybe twenty minutes into the shoot, Percy found himself snapping candid photos of his slightly disengaged girlfriend, while Remy and the other two girls scrolled through Pinterest looking for concepts for their next set of pictures. Over the years, Percy had collected many images of Annabeth in his mental folio: bruised and bloody, comfy, cute, unkempt, stressed. Just to name a few. But today, in her short, white dress with sweet, blousy, long sleeves, Apollo blessing her in plays of golden light, she was in rare form. Annabeth straightened, uncrossing her legs and lowering her hand from her mouth where she had been distractedly biting her thumbnail, when she finally registered the snaps of the shutters going off. That hand flew in front of her face as she stepped towards him in an attempt to put an end to his sneaky pursuit.

She made a quick lunge for the camera that he laughingly dodged, snapping a picture of her in action.

She lunged again and missed. _Snap_. She folded her arms. _Snap_. Another.

Percy brought the camera down slightly from his face, his body bending towards her like an affectionate parenthesis.

**"Do you want me to stop?** "

She tipped her face up, hands on her hips. She was wearing a little make up; something that sharpened her grey eyes and softened her face and made her lips satiny and plump like if he touched his mouth to hers it would taste of strawberry lemonade. 

"If I say yes, will that stop you?"

_Snap_. An ultra close shot of her face was his answer.

Annabeth stepped right up into his space, arms still crossed, forehead pushing into his sternum. Head to heart. The anatomical center points of their greatest strengths and their would-be downfall. "Stop. _Please_ ,” she murmured.

One of her hands guided the camera from his face until he rested it against his shoulder, his hold relaxed. He stroked his camera free hand down her back in surrender; she rewarded his cooperation by tucking her hands into his front pockets.

"You think we should do this?" Percy nodded his head towards the group as he asked.

"Yeah. I do. Just the two of us." She braced her arms around his hips, facetiously stepping on the scuffed toes of his converse with her chunky heeled sandals and relying on him to keep them upright as she leaned away to fully look at him. “We could have someone take some pictures nice enough to share with the public. You could try wearing something other than a T-shirt, jeans and converse-”

“Like a suit?”

“Or just a button up. Some nice pants.” 

"Sounds very newly-engaged-young-Mormon-couple-y."

Her mouth popped open, playfully shocked, and she mouthed, " _Asshole_ ," looking at him through narrowed eyes.

“Not Mormon couple-y. Try powerful-half-bloods-who-somehow-survived-beyond-their-college-graduation-against-all-odds-y."

Percy's free hand rose to toy with her coily locks. He was more careful playing with her hair than usual, given the fact that it had a certain coiffed look to it that indicated efforts he would be remiss to undo. That arm fell away from her hair to wrap around her, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Sure. Mom would love that.”

She gazed at him with a knowing look on her face, as if to say _'And so would you.’_ She smiled because she loved him and because she was happy he was here. "Okay. I'm gonna go back. Figure out what's going on."

"Ok. You do that." He squeezed tighter around her waist, and she laughed at the sweet contradiction of his words and his actions.

"You gotta let me go babe."

He relaxed his arm. "You're right." He released her fully and propelled her slightly forward, hand pushing at her shoulder. "Go on girl. Go have fun. Be with your pals."

Eyes rolling she quipped back, "Alright, _dad._ "

“Bleh." He shuddered in disgust. "Don't _call_ me that."

* * *

By the end of the photo hour, Annabeth had gotten comfortable to the point of utter mischievousness; in a silly moment she angled her ass at her boyfriend and flipped her skirt up while calling out over her shoulder, “Cal _bares_.” ***** She and the others cackled at her antics and at the red flush in Percy's ears. 

Did he get the picture? He most certainly did.

All of them had just started the trek back to the road when Annabeth asked Remy if she could take her cap and stole back to their place. "I’m gonna stay with Percy tonight."

Remy slung an arm over Annabeth’s shoulder and shook her slightly as she joked, “You guys are gonna do a private shoot?"

“Only in your dreams Rem Psycho,” Percy shot back.

She ignored him, choosing to lean closer to Annabeth and whisper, “I’m so glad you were here today.” Her smile was sincere. “I’m so glad we had these few years together, and everyone will see these pictures and think you’re just some hot blonde, but I’ll know you’re a sloppy, neurotic, nutcase-“

“Geez Rem,” she pinched her thigh, “I’ll miss you too.”

“And I’ll get to brag about knowing you for the rest of my life. My parents still won’t tolerate your Greek ass, but that makes it better.”

Everyone said their goodbyes and the other group peeled ahead as Percy slowed the pair down.

Annabeth looked at him in askance. “Are you planning on taking more pictures?”

“No, I’m done.” He nodded towards a patch of grass a distance away and nudged her shoulder. “Come on, sit with me?”

Her eyes turned curious but she nudged him back and walked with him along a narrow path through a blanket of poppies, following suit when he set his camera to the side and stretched out on his back.

They laid in relative silence for a bit, kind of just taking in the moment. And Annabeth quickly realized why he had asked her to pause and lay with him. The two of them were odd specs in a brightly colored sea and it was pretty soul shifting.

Under the pinks and yellows and blues of the late afternoon sky, surrounded by the abundant wildflowers blooming like a canvas come to life, Percy looked over to see Annabeth breathing deeply, eyes closed, before he reached over to take her hand, resting on her belly, in his.

He stroke his thumb over the back of her hand and asked, “Isn’t it crazy that we’ll be leaving here soon?"

She opened her eyes and breathed in, still looking at the sky. “Yeah." Exhale. "It always feels like everything’s happened so fast once you've reached the end,” she mused, thoughtfully. 

A breeze tussled her hair; a blonde curl waved against her nose, tickled her cheek. 

"You fit right in here,” he said. Her quick glance begged further explanation. "You always have. All long legged, tan, blonde. Nice ass."

"I didn't realize that was a California thing." She sounded amused.

He shrugged and continued, "But in a month, we graduate-"

“I can't believe we managed that-"

"And then its back to New York."

"Yeah.” She squeezed his hand. "You miss it so much."

"So do you." He squeezed back.

"Yeah, but you miss it different."

He sighed. "Yeah."

New York was his home base. It was all he knew. It was family and friends and where he learned to drive and the theater you go to if you want to movie hop and Tío’s Tacos sandwiched in between the laundromat and Sushi Palace. Annabeth had moved around throughout her life so, even though camp was a home to her, it wasn’t the same.

"I’ll miss California."

"Really?" She sounded doubtful.

"Really." He laughed at the look of skepticism on her face. “There are missable things about this place. I can admit that.”

"Not the earthquakes."

"Definitely not the _fucking_ earthquakes." 

Every earthquake, no matter how small, had put Percy on edge. But especially if they were bigger; he would have shakes for hours and would swear he could hear his bones rattling beneath his skin.

"So tell me what’s missable. Other than New Rome. And our friends."

He contemplated. "All the fruit, for one. There's so much of it. All kinds of it. It just grows everywhere.” He poked her side. “Remember how Grover nearly wet himself talking about the agriculture when he came out here? I have, like, a new concept of fresh fruit."

Annabeth shifted to her side and tucked her hand under her head to form a pillow. "Well, I'm gonna miss the weather. And the beach."

"The beach?" Now Percy sounded incredulous. "You would take Santa Cruz over Montauk?"

"I would choose Monterey over Montauk. Santa Cruz is kinda ass." She trickled some grass in his face. "You are such a New Yorker and I don't think that will ever change."

He didn't respond at first. A bit of a serious cast fell over his face as he wiped away bits of grass.

"Part of me,” he swallowed hard, something in his voice now different. “Part of me is worried we'll get sucked back into it once we're there again. Like, we'll be back running quests and training and Rachel will rattle off another prophecy that stars us as the lucky halfbloods."

Annabeth’s brows pinched together, she had not expected their conversation to take this turn. “Percy, it's not gonna be like that. Chiron knows we aren’t there for hero work-”

"But we're still leaders. They still see us as heroes.” His hand rose to rub his mouth and her heart ached at the true anxiety in his features. And it also aches with some relief, because she was so glad he was sharing these thoughts with her instead of keeping them to himself. “There's so much that we know and- and we've learned and survived. Camp saved us. How can we turn our backs on-”

“We aren't turning our backs on anyone,” she said firmly. “A step back is very different from a turned back.”

He went quiet again. Finally he said, "I get what you’re saying Annabeth. Sometimes I just... it’s hard not to feel like we owe them-"

"Stop. You don’t owe anyone _anything_ , Perce. Stop being the hero.” She reached out and gently shook his shoulder. “You owe yourself a chance to live life on your terms."

Memories echoed through his mind: handing over a cursed blade, dying in literal hell and a gentle plea, _‘don’t be a hero.’_ It’s always her, pulling him back from the end of the world, reminding him it doesn’t always have to be him. Silence filled the air long enough for the sun to sink lower in the sky and the passage of time is marked by the gradual deepening of the late afternoon glow. He shifted onto his side, propped on his elbow.

"You wanna hear my terms?" 

"Sure." She shifted in the grass, on her side still, now both hands pillowing her head.

"Ok.” He paused. “My terms include you. My mom. Estelle and Paul, blue cake on my birthday.” He worried his bottom lip, probably working off some dead skin as he paused. Then he breathed, “Marriage.” Their eyes locked and he watched a wave of blush hue her chest and cheeks a reddish pink. His voice strengthened with confidence. "Kids. Maybe like three. Or four." Now she was breathing a little unsteady. "I want a decent townhouse in Brooklyn. Trips to Montauk. A job at a local fire station-”

"Oh, Percy..." She had tears shining in her eyes. "The fire station? You decided?”

"Uh, yeah." He picked at the grass growing between them. "I've been thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my life. And, um, that's what I could see myself doing until I couldn't do it anymore." He looked up from the grass when he felt her hand touch his face, cool in contrast to the day's dying rays. "I couldn't honestly see myself as a social worker, like the lifestyle part, not the actual work, you know."

After a mentally exhausting, high key traumatic sophomore year, Percy decided he would take a year off and just kinda be in the normal world. He moved back to New York and stayed with Sally and Paul and Estelle. Annabeth stayed in California for that year, working at an architectural firm while enrolled in school part-time; she gained some positive, professional experience, lightened her academic load for the sake of her life/mental state at the time, and Percy had... chilled. He took care of Estelle while his mom worked on a novel. He cooked, saw friends, went to therapy. And through a conversation in therapy about finding a purpose and a routine outside of school or hero work, both of which had left him scarred and/or utterly depleted in recent years, Ekene, his therapist, connected him with his brother, Dike. Dike and Ekene Okafor were Roman legacies, descendants of Vulcan, and both played huge roles in recalibrating Percy during that time away from school. And Percy spent the last eight months of his year off getting certifications and volunteering with the fire department under the mentorship and watchful eye of Dike, who was the firehouse captain. The next summer, he had gone back to New York and done more volunteering. That year hadn't been easy for either of them, but it had been necessary.

"So much for this degree," he said, shrugging. She scooted over, closing the small space between them and probably getting grass stains on her dress before she pushed him onto his back, leaned over, and kissed him. An arm loosely cradling his head, a leg sliding against his, her thigh brushing his hips. It was short, mostly her mouth pressing down on his, lips and noses brushing, because they were smiling too much.

"I agree to those terms." Emotion had her voice shaking and she passed her thumb over his mouth. "With the exception of the four kids."

His boyish grin made her heart pound. "That one was definitely open for discussion."

"Good."

She looked at him for a second, then pulled away and settled onto her back again.

The conversation felt momentous, not necessarily because it was full of any particular revelation, but because, here they were, not super sure of whatever the fuck was going to happen next, on the cusp of a new chapter of life, together, and all the dreams and plans they had mentioned before suddenly felt that much more real.

"Kids for sure though?" A penetrating look intensified his eyes, she couldn’t look away, and the green seemed to shimmer in the heavenly gleam that accompanied the sun’s final bow.

She blushed again at his seriousness and the otherworldly beauty of him that stunned her sometimes. "Definitely," is all she manages.

Percy grinned, and his eyes traveled over her blushing, light-bathed form before he leaned over and kissed her back. He pulled away and sat up, searching for his camera, which had been all but forgotten.

The camera lens replaced his green gaze and she stared down the barrel, watching it shift mechanically as he adjusted the focus, before she looked away, tension crawling up her limbs. Even more color flooded her cheeks and he chuckled.

"Why are you so nervous?" 

She took a deep breath, a little embarrassed. "Because you normally don't take pictures of me like this.” She gestured awkwardly to her prone form. “I don't know what to do." She reached over and brushed her hand against his jean clad knee. "And we did just have a pretty important conversation."

"I hardly said anything new." He was trying to put her at ease. "Relax. Just focus on me, not the camera." With new determination, she attempted to settle into the grass, lifting her head to rearrange her hair, then smoothing and tugging her dress only a little self consciously.

"Relax," he repeated.

"I'm relaxed!"

"You aren't."

Obviously he needed a more effective method if he was gonna get any pictures of her where she didn't look like she was trying to pass gas. Or trying to hold it in.

He leaned over her side and kissed her again, this time lingering until she moaned against his mouth, combing her fingers through the hair at his nape so she could bring him closer and deepen the kiss. He tugged her lower lip in his mouth, working the pinkish gloss off, and he had been right earlier because it did taste like strawberries. 

He pulled away and as her eyes drifted open, _snap_ , that moment was frozen forever. She chewed the lip he just sucked almost free of gloss, biting back a smile because he was an effective guy: he wanted her relaxed, and there she was, warm and buzzing, surrounded by the earth and him, loved by the earth and him. Light-headed and floaty, nurtured and blooming like the wildflowers around her. Her hands curled in the grass at her sides. Percy kissed her smile. She started to laugh. _Snap_. He took another picture. He moved from her side. She bent her legs so he could kneel between them. He hovered over her, braced on one hand, dropping kisses all over her face. A peck on her nose. By her left ear. Four on her brow bone. A brush of his lips over her cheek. She felt his teeth against her forehead. They were both laughing. Her thighs cradled his hips. He sat back and took another picture. They were both still laughing.

He kissed down her chin, down her throat. She inhaled, exhaled. He kissed the dip between her collar bones. The center of her chest. No more laughing. Her hand cradled his head. He felt the thrum of her heartbeat on the edge of his mouth. Her fingernails scraped against his scalp. His lips traveled over the slight swell of her breast, flattened in her position. Her hand tightened in his hair. Her other hand curled around his shoulder, the muscles firm as he braced his weight on that elbow. His chin pushed the edge of her dress lower. He slowly nuzzled it aside, until... 

“Percy…” Her voice was quiet, breathy.

He kissed here there, lips barely brushing. His lips felt dry against her skin. Her hands moved to hold his face. Percy swore under his breath.

He moved back onto his haunches, out of her reach. Her hands fell to her sides again, curling back into the grass. He paused for a moment, surveying her, one hand touching the soft skin of her bare thigh, laying open on his knee, the other balancing his camera on his shoulder. Her breaths were hard and sounded loud to her: she felt incredibly aware of herself, of him. Her eyes remained on his face, and she watched his expression as his free hand traced along the raised skin of a fading scar.

He slowly pulled his hand away, dragging it down her thigh to her bent knee. She made a soft noise and her hands drifted along her thighs. He scooted back, set the camera aside again and laid down next to Annabeth. She curled into his side, fixing her dress.

“Mmmm.” The sky was mostly blue now, the sun dipping below the horizon. Annabeth felt charged and sensitive. Percy was tingling. But also pretty content. 

“Let’s go home,” he mumbled into her hair. “And we can finish that. In a real bed.”

Annabeth sat up. She leaned over and kissed him before whispering against his mouth, "Sounds good to me."

_Notes:_

**Super bloom** : Super blooms, or a number of wildflowers exceeding normal spring blooms, typically occur in desert landscapes when excess rain is followed by cold weather, which locks moisture into the ground. (They are GORGEOUS, this happens across Cali, one site is few miles from where I grew up.)

**Cal Bares** : A play on words. lol Berkeley’s mascot is a bear and everyone in California knows Berkeley as Cal. _Cal Bears_ , woo!

The dress I imagine Annabeth wearing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you thought chapter 2 would never happen. Cuz same lol.  
> 

She drove them to his place, a rarity since he was usually weird about her driving his car. Percy chose to look through the pictures from the afternoon instead.

Annabeth glanced at him, catching him squinting at the images on the small camera screen as he remarked, almost to himself, “These are pretty good."

A small smile crossed her face. She turned her focused back on the road and flicked the indicator, "As they should be.” She made the turn, they were almost at his place, “You're a really good photographer-”

“By hobby.” He mumbled. “Not by trade or anything.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure.” She hit a red light and tapped her thumb impatiently against the wheel.

“Sure what? What's that suppose to mean-"

"It means you don't have to be so humble about it. You could probably rack up some change doing senior pictures around-"

"I don't really care to- Please don’t race him though the intersection." He waited for her to slow down, then relaxed back into his seat. "I don't really care to get paid to photograph randos," he said with a shrug.

She made a face. "You're so stubborn.” She indicated again for a right turn. “I was just making a suggestion."

"And I've considered you're suggestion, and politely declined.” He was back to the photos. “Besides, I think a good photographer feels passionate about his models. And there's no model I feel more passionate about than-"

"Alright, alright, you've made your point," she laughed, shaking her head.

They pulled into the parking lot for the apartment-style housing complex where Percy and Frank shared a four-bedroom unit with three other demigods/legacies.

As soon as she parked, she looked over at him, still clicking through photos. He felt her gaze and she saw a smile crack his intent profile.

"I can show you just how passionate I feel, once we're inside."

She didn’t dignify him with a response, just unbuckled her seatbelt with a sigh and turned to face him, right leg tucked under her. She watched his nose scrunch when a picture he didn’t like came into view, then give a satisfactory nod for a good shot a few seconds later.

A pack of Extra polar ice gum in the cup holder caught her eye, and she reached for it, fishing out a piece for herself before she broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.

“What do you have to eat?” She asked. “I’m pretty starved.”

He finally looked up at her, to gage her seriousness, before he responded. “Ummm,” he started, stretching between their seats to grab his camera case from where he had tossed it into the back. “I really don’t have anything to eat.”

She pulled a face, “Maybe Frank does?”

“You,” he pointed a finger at her face, “have no couth.”

She shrugged. Frank wouldn’t mind. Probably.

He released his seatbelt and popped the door open. “We can swing by the grocery store.” He was stepping out of the car as he said this, and almost missed Annabeth’s petulant “Nooo.”

“What?” He dropped the crossbody camera bag over his head and met her halfway around the hood of the car with a hand outstretched. “What’s the problem?”

Annabeth took his offered hand and they walked the short distance to his unit. “Let’s order in from the Taqueria.”

“You just don’t want to cook.”

“And? What’s new?”

She had his keys. But unlocking the door was a task made difficult with Percy crowding her on the stoop with bold, roaming hands. “Why are you thinking about food right now?” He squeezed her hips when she finally got the door open. “I thought we had a plan here?”

She stepped through the door and out of his grasp. “Dinner is _always_ a part of the plan. Hey Berto.”

She greeted Roberto, one of Percy’s housemates, who was currently relaxed on the couch, playing some video game. He nodded back to her, friendly but distracted.

Percy, being older and annoying, dragged Roberto’s headset off of his head, laughing when he yelled in indignation and threw an elbow at him. “This guy is the worst,” Roberto complained to Annabeth. She laughed from the kitchen, where she was pouring herself a glass of water. “I know,” she said sympathetically.

“Why do you date him then?” He had pulled Percy’s head over the back of the couch and was trying to put him in a headlock.

Percy responded in a low voice, likely with something off color given the guffaw Roberto let out.

She made her way down the hall to Percy’s bedroom. It wasn’t tidy per se, but it wasn’t a total mess. With a wrinkled nose, she gathered some clothes that were piled on one side of his bed and tossed them in the vicinity of his hamper. Clean or not, she didn’t really care to find out. A wireless speaker sat on the back corner of his desk: a gift from her that she uses more than he does. She connected her phone and had just set a playlist to shuffle when Percy walked in, shutting the door behind him. 

He leaned back against the closed door and nodded to the speaker with a slight widening of his eyes. She simply raised her hand in the universal call for silence, closing her eyes, then tilting her head from side to side when the drums from a song by Fleetwood Mac played out through the speaker. She swayed in a not-so-impressive display of her dancing abilities, fully anticipating, no, welcoming his snicker. A hip shake and a shimmy took her to the foot of his bed. With a smile and a body roll, she beckoned him over, voice just barely louder than Stevie Nicks', “It can’t be too obvious I’m rocking your world in here.”

He walked over to stand in front of her, immediately reaching for the short hem of her dress. Up past her hips, over her chest; they both laughed when it got stuck around her shoulders until, finally, he managed to pull it over her head.

“You’re rocking my world?” He asked this as he pulled her close, into his arms. She felt warm and familiar and there.

“Sure.” She looped her arms around his neck. “I’m in the driver's seat today.”

His thumbs hook in the sides of her underwear, and he sank to the floor, taking them down with him. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes.” She stepped out of her panties. She wavered. “Maybe.” He freed her foot from one shoe.

He pressed a kiss to her thigh. Slid her shoe off of her other foot. Pressed another kiss to her belly. And pretty much stole the driver's seat.

* * *

Much later, she lifted her face from his chest to check if he was awake.

“We’re doing delivery. No pick up. I’ll call the Taqueria,” she whispered.

Percy was knocked out and didn’t respond. She smiled and dropped a kiss on his open mouth before wiggling free from under his arm. She gave herself a rudimentary wipe down with some Kleenex from a box on his dresser, before she found her panties on the floor and slid them on, along with a borrowed t-shirt and sweatpants. 

Grabbing her phone (pausing Dolly Parton in the middle of "Islands in the Stream") and his laptop, she made her way into the kitchen. Roberto seemed to have left or gone into his room, so she sat at the table, called and ordered their food, then started working through her emails.

She was four emails deep when Frank came through the front door.

“Hey!” He greeted her with a brief laugh. “I didn’t expect to see you this weekend.”

He came around to the table and embraced her in a warm side hug.

“Hey yourself.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “Sort of had a change in plans.”

He moved away from the kitchen table to the refrigerator. “You staying tonight?” He grabbed a large tupperware of fried rice from one of the shelves.

“Yeah.” She backspaced, then retyped a word on the email she was composing. “I’ll probably head back to Berkeley early tomorrow morning.” Backspace, retype. “Too much to take care off, and there’s only so much I can do here without my things.”

“I’m sure you can afford a chill weekend.” he scooped a hefty portion of rice onto an empty plate.

“I really can’t though,” she sighed. “I’m gonna pay for this in a painful way, but it's fine.” She gathered her hair at the nape of her neck, wishing for a scrunchy.

“Where’s Percy?”

“Sleeping.” She minimized that email correspondence and opened a different one. “What have you been up to?”

The two of them caught up for the next fifteen or so minutes, conversation interrupted by an awakened Percy, dragging bare-chested into the kitchen. He slid into the seat next to Frank.

“Hey man.” He peered at Frank’s steaming plate of chicken fried rice and made a noise at the heavenly smell. “You got enough to share?”

“Leave him alone,” Annabeth scolded, “Our food should be here any minute now.”

“Lucky you,” he said to Frank. “You know she doesn’t have boundaries when it comes to food. No couth.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “What did you get me?”

“Chicken burrito. Extra guac.”

“Black beans?”

“Yeah.”

He put his chin in his hand and smiled dopily at her. “I really think she loves me Frank.”

“No kidding man.” Frank replied with raised eyebrows at the two of them, forking a huge bite of the rice into his mouth.

“You working?” Percy asked.

She nodded, eyes scanning the doc pulled up on the screen.

“I almost feel guilty,” he said, watching her make another frustrating grab at her messy hair.

She raised her brows, as if to ask, ‘really?’ and he scoffed at her expression and clarified, “Not for that.” He rose to his feet and disappeared back into his room for a second, returning with a hair tie in hand. He stood behind her and finger combed through her tangled hair. She released a near orgasmic sigh a few moments into his tender ministrations and Frank looked up at the two of them in vague horror.

“I almost feel guilty for ignoring school for the past couple days.” Detangling her hair was slow work, and he took special care to not tug too hard or miss any obvious knots.

A loud knock sounded through the apartment and Frank gestured for Percy to stay; he got up and answered the door for them, returning to deposit the large sack of Mexican food in front of the couple.

The laptop was pushed to the side and Annabeth clapped her hands and rubbed them together excitedly before digging into the bag for their dinner.

With his girlfriend’s hair detangled and up in a pretty decent ponytail, Percy sat in the chair by her side right as Annabeth handed him his burrito. It felt like a good way to end a good day; joking and laughing with people who knew the best and worst of him, who had been to hell and back with him, and could now harass him over a way-out-of-budget dinner. And Percy, the guy that treasured the moments, relished in this one, too. Frank’s celebration of a passing grade on a half-assed essay and Annabeth’s hilarious reenactment of her favorite professor spilling coffee on his crotch was sweet balm to his soul, healing salve for the blisters left by twenty-plus years of more shit than any twenty-plus-year-old should ever deal with. So he laughed with his friend that night. And he cleaned up a messy kitchen. And he kissed his girlfriend, and even managed to leave her alone to work for like, an hour and a half, before he dragged her to bed for as many rounds of sex as they could manage that night.

On Sunday, Percy woke up feeling lighter than he had felt in a while. Sore too, like he had done a couple thousand crunches. The girl curled up next to him, asleep with one hand pillowing her head and the other arm holding her stomach could be credited for that.

He nudged her awake, persistent, even when she whined in sleepy annoyance.

“Come on,” he shook her shoulder. “You told me to wake you up before 8.”

No response, but she did turn over so her back was facing him.

“I’ll make you some coffee, ‘kay? Then I’ll drop you off at your place?”

She moaned pathetically. “Stop talking.”

“Okay.” He rolled to the edge of the bed and pushed to his feet with a groan. “Coffee it is.”

  
  


Thirty minute later they were parked on the street next to her apartment, saying one last heated goodbye over the center console.

Percy’s reaching hand pushed into her borrowed sweatpants. He had the happy realization that she had ditched her underwear and proceeded to drag the elastic band down to fondle her; Annabeth leaned away, hands on his chest. “You’re quite bold for someone who’s windows aren’t tinted.”

He squeezed, then pulled his hand out of her pants with a shameless grin. “One last grope for the road.”

She bumped his nose with hers. “Ass man.”

He took her mouth in another kiss.

When they finally broke apart, she reached for the messy hair on his forehead, pushing it to the side before quietly admitting, “This was nice. Unplanned. But really nice.” 

“Yeah.” He smiled at her, eyes tracking over her tired, makeup free face. “I got you good,” he murmured, thumbing her swollen lip, tracing along the bruises on her jaw, connecting the dots to the marks on her neck. It’s not hard to imagine the teasing she’ll get from Remy, showing up looking as she does.

She leaned closer to him and pressed a kiss to his jawline. “You did.” A kiss on his cheek. “But I give as good as I get.” She pressed another kiss to a bruise on his neck.

He reached for her hand and brushed a kiss to her knuckles. “When do I see you again?”

She leaned her head on the seat. “Wednesday maybe? For lunch? I switched my morning shift with another intern.”

He shook his head, “Thursday?”

“Thursday evening?”

“Thursday evening then.” Sealed with a kiss.

She sighed, and then with determination, she let go of his hand, picked up the reusable bag containing her things, hopped out of the car, and shut the door.

She didn’t move away just yet, tapping on the window before she said, “Three more weeks.”

He nodded, pumping his fist in solidarity, then smiling when she did a happy jig.

She stepped back from the car. He watched her go, looking very much like some lucky guy’s girlfriend in her large t-shirt and sweats and his slides too big on her feet, laughing when she turned and waved, before he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

_Three more weeks._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment if you're loving college era percabeth and want to see more of them.  
> Wanna know which Fleetwood Mac song they were gettin down to?  
> my tumblr [@memehereagain ](https://memehereagain.tumblr.com)


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